Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway NH-275: 25-ft. tall electric poles sway dangerously as thieves steal horizontal metal bars
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Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway NH-275: 25-ft. tall electric poles sway dangerously as thieves steal horizontal metal bars

January 30, 2023

Srirangapatna: While thousands of commuters are opting for the 10-lane Mysuru-Bengaluru Access-Controlled Expressway  (NH-275) daily for a smooth and hassle-free journey, the high-tech road has also become a favourite destination for wily thieves to steal metal objects, stainless steel barricades and metal water pipes.

Just a couple of days back, the Officers of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) told Star of Mysore that they were baffled by the scale of thefts on the Expressway.

“The steel barriers are made of high-grade steel and the thieves are blatantly cutting off parts to sell them in scrap yards. Now we have found that thieves are targeting electric poles and are removing the strengthening bars between the aesthetically designed poles. While steel barricades have been removed at many places in Bidadi and Ramanagara, the electric poles are being targeted on the Srirangapatna stretch,” an Officer said.

These iron and steel thieves are making use of the darkness and are taking away valuable metal. “Unfortunately, they fail to realise the efforts and money that have gone into the building of the Expressway. For a few extra rupees, they are discrediting the best quality of works undertaken,” the NHAI Officer added.

Shockingly, as the horizontal support railings on the bottom half of the vertical poles have been removed, the poles are becoming infirm and are swaying

when the wind blows. Over time, they will become weak and there is a danger of them crashing  down on commuters who are travelling on the road and the service roads.

The supporting sidebars of the electric poles have been removed at many places on the service roads on either side of the Expressway. Bereft of the sidebars, the poles are standing like skeletons, inviting danger. The poles have been laid at a height of 25 ft. and the horizontal supporting bars have been removed up to a height of 12 ft. (see pic. above). “The poles are sturdy and are made of an alloy-like metal but they have been fixed with easily removable nuts and bolts and have not been riveted. Taking advantage of this, the thieves have used simple spanners and hammers to remove the screws and steal the metal bars,” said a local resident.

READ ALSO  Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway NH-275: Phase-1 toll collection to begin from Feb. 28, 8 am

The vehicle movement on the NH-275 Expressway and its service roads is high even before the road is inaugurated. “The NHAI can install CCTV cameras all along the road to catch the thieves or they can at least request the jurisdictional Police to increase night patrolling. Steps must be taken to strengthen the poles before they crash on commuters as it happened recently in Bengaluru when the iron structure of an under-construction Metro pillar fell killing two people instantly,” said Javaregowda, a concerned farmer.

Highway patrolling to prevent thefts

It is an unfortunate development. We carry out development works for public benefit and there are some anti-social elements who destroy public property without realising safety is endangered. We will introduce highway patrolling and already, we have sent a proposal to the Centre to implement an Intelligent Highway Information and Traffic Management System (IHI-TMS) on this Expressway to control accidents and theft of metal barricades and other items. The proposal is in the approval stage and once implemented, we will have CCTV cameras and sensors every 500 metres. This will detect thieves and will be a deterrent.” —Pratap Simha, Mysuru-Kodagu MP

By Vinay Karekura

36 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway NH-275: 25-ft. tall electric poles sway dangerously as thieves steal horizontal metal bars”

  1. Vaidhya Phani says:

    Meticulous work has gone to build the world class express way . Now to protect it from thief’s and anti-social elements guess we need dedicated High way patrol.

  2. Santhosh says:

    Stringent punishment should be meted out to these thieves. They are endangering other’s lives.

  3. Everyone has a cell phone these days. Whenever people observe illegal activities such as causing damage to public property, they should take a photo and report it to the authorities. Authorities should create a web site where these things can easily reported. If these illegal activities are happening during night CC TV cameras and sensors are the only means unless patrolling is organised. Irony is we may be able to keep a vigil on the Nation’s borders but it is very hard to protect our public assets from internal thieves.

  4. Chinnappa says:

    This must be Islamic terrorists work as usual

  5. Raghuveee says:

    After fixing the support horizontal metals, better to surround that part upto 3 to 4 feet from thorn fencing that prevents from these type of thefts. Thieves are anyway cheat the cameras by wearing face mask and however thier was almost farm land and they can hide inbetween if police patrol comes.

  6. Srini says:

    Lousy NHAI engineers lack common sense while planning high speed expressway. They should factor in thefts of guard rails, fences, telecom/power towers. Easy access coupled with absence of lights & patrolling has made the thieves job easy. Installing CCTVs will not make any sense either.

  7. Mohan says:

    Scant regards for the country and its laws. The peacefool people’s involvement cannot be ruled out.

  8. Subroto says:

    The people or vendors who are buying from these thieves needs to be caught and finished harshly. If there are no buyers then the theft will stop automatically. Cops and adminstration must take stringent measures to make this happen, else we will loose a world class product and would remain in premedical times!!!

  9. Kingshuk Chattaraj says:

    How can you be so naive to think if assets are kept unprotected in the middle of road they will not be pilfered?Are you living in Satyug? When you are investing large sums of money, on whom do you think the responsibility of protecting the investment lie?This is an expressway but no lighting..What kind of callousness is this?Why jurisdiction police is not alerted or cctv installed? Just building assets is not enough..you must know how to protect it..Put pressure on police, they will clear the entire area of thieves in two days.Then carry on with your work

  10. Rajiv says:

    Catch the scrap buyers who buy this materials and punish them with imprisonment and see the results. It’s the drunkards who steal these and sell to the scrap buyers, these drunkards sell to the nearest scrap dealers. So intensify the police checking in those shops.

  11. Lakshminarayanan K .M. says:

    The theft can also be prevented by having a watch on the scrap dealers. They should all be warned by way of Govt. Notification. The thieves cannot carry the stolen materials far. So nearby scrap dealers are to be warned and if found accepting the materials, punitive action to be initiated.

  12. Purushotham says:

    Voters of Siddramullah Khan are doing a their regular duty

  13. Phanish says:

    Excuse me, what made the NHAI think that thieves will not show their talent on this stretch of road? This shows that you guys have not properly thought of and you should have come up with a theft free idea. Which world are you guys in? Or is this act of your own employees who know the loop whole? Or is this some sort of corruption again to loot public money? Anything is possible in our country and you wouldn’t know. This is not the 1st time something like this has happened. You should have anticipated this long time before when localities started cutting the metal fence that are used on either side of the highway even before the highway was open for public use. God save us.

  14. Dhhdjd says:

    Wondering if there is much poverty that people are struggling to make ends meet or have some people have taken this up as profession.

  15. Austin says:

    This is result of poverty.skewed development will never work ,do what u like.poor have to be helped out of poverty.with this govt of Adani and ambani nothing will go down to working class.so,get used to petty theft.

  16. Dr. Ajit Kr Deka says:

    The scrap byers must be put under vigil. If no buyers come forward these theft will not occur. Definitely they are not stealing for household use. CC camera alone will not serve the purpose. Lighting the express way is equally important to deter the criminal act.

  17. Kalpana says:

    This is so sad…..India is trying to thrive & here are some petty thieves putting public life in danger.Night patrolling & CCTV may help deter this activity.

  18. Danny says:

    These steel sections can be removed using spanners. Ideally weld these bolts is necessary. Also concrete the base for about 20 feet or more above ground to make it difficult to climb . Easy to do

  19. Srini says:

    Raid on scrap yard dealers and the leads can be obtained. Punish the buyers and sellers. The whole story would come to halt.

    Government to explore by sharing the design of the products with scrap yard merchants and warn if they buy.

  20. KPS says:

    No mercy should be shown. Shot at sight when a person is caught. It will be lesson for others.

  21. Adnan says:

    If this comment gets approved by the team! I would like to divert the attention of the authorities to the diversions boards on the highway where my cousin and her husband met with an accident due to the low reflection stickers and sudden turns. Not just my family many others have been effected by the diversions boards and the gravel near the turns. If the road is not officially inaugurated please take measures to change the reflective stickers on the boards or provide lighting near the diversion areas. Thank you

  22. Raghavendra Gobbur says:

    Ther can be many face of these thief.They may be poor ,jobless,criminals out from jail without money or job, may be politics of coming election todiscredit the so called double engine ,handy work of antiNationals , religion caste politics.
    Fencing, and revettin to prevent easyremoval are essential.ptrolling and CCTV to be available but for other reasons.

  23. Binaa says:

    It is indeed very sad. But I wonder why riveting has not been used?

  24. Suresh R says:

    Shoot at sight must be implemented to curb such anti-socials.

  25. Fayaz khan says:

    Its unplanned express way, since i noticed there are no night road lighting system and also no reflectors on the tracks, no petrol bunks and no restrooms for travelers to get freshen up and moreover patrolling 24 x 7 is a must.

  26. Holla says:

    Just connect live wires to all metals.

  27. Subramaniam says:

    Shame on you Karnataka Indians .the world community will laugh abt their petty act. Govt should see those who indulge in this should be SHOT at sight then and there.

  28. Nagaraj says:

    Scrap buyers are crorepatis. Just like gold merchants they have to purchase from people with I’d card and photo of item and keep record. Iron melters have to keep photo of scrap and scrap dealers address details. All scrap dealers and collectors have to register.

  29. 129 says:

    When some one seafches for hiss rrequired thing, so he/she wants
    tto be available that in detail, thuis that thing is maintained over
    here.

  30. Naleen Chandra says:

    Who do you punish? The crime or the criminal?
    This incident raises the immortal question.
    Along with the obvious answer: Crime, of course.
    Please note the talent, the expertise and the enterprise of the thief. He wins hands down in the game, while the NHAI chief, the police chief cut sorry figures.
    Unfortunately, those virtues are misunderstood, and misused. The immediate solution of the problem is to give the due recognition to these rare virtues. Thieves possessing these qualities are fit to be employed as security personnel or as managers in the NHAI. They have passed the basic aptitude test unlike their so called educated contempraries. The authorities must take cognizance of this fundamental human factor. Otherwise, you will never be able to stop the menace. The biggest thief is the one which lies within. Being an ostrich won’t work.

  31. Suresh bhat says:

    What are NHAI patrolling doing, they should undertake intense patrolling and they should be held responsible.cctv cameras can also be installed at different locations.

  32. Balachandran says:

    Welding of the rods to the poles will prevent theft

  33. GR Muruli says:

    Ahamed as an engineer from Karnataka. Our reservation governement fellows failed as, they can’t design road with out potholes and humps, barricades with out accidents, metal items with out theft and much more.
    Classic example is BDA engineering department and these AH’s reached Highway roads.
    Come and see roads in North highways. Make contractors responsible. Anyway they are collecting toll.

  34. Muruli says:

    Ahamed as an engineer from Karnataka. Our reservation governement fellows failed as, they can’t design road with out potholes and humps, barricades with out accidents, metal items with out theft and much more.
    Classic example is BDA engineering department and these AH’s reached Highway roads.
    Come and see roads in North highways. Make contractors responsible. Anyway they are collecting toll.

  35. Ajjampur Vijayakumar says:

    This will not be the only case, as thieves are allowed because of the corrupt police. These thieves are identifiable criminals.
    But the un-identifiable criminals are the contractors who carried out the road construction using poor quality materials, which will become evident by this time next year, as the road conditiin gets deteriorated and pot holes appear.
    But the central and state governments, wose ministers not known for honesty, are only interested in the grand opening of this Highway, with fan fare by Narendra Modi, to show to Karnataka voters that how the BJP has been improving their livelihoods, and urging them to vote back the 40% commission , Karnataka BJP government again.
    I read a poster @Kalpana who says that India is improving and this in isolation. She must be deluded indeed. Can she assure us that the milk supplied in India is pure and un-adulterated or the cooking oil sold is pure! This is a country of swindlers who from the ministers down wards to the petty criminals swindle in all sorts of ways.
    Wait until the Highway becomes fully operational, the accidents, the toll gates corruption, the congestion adding to the misery.
    Bad move, to expandthis highway so much. Instead, multiple tracks, fast trains with schedules like non-stop between Mysore and Bangalore, and choice of stops in between , complemented by fully electrified route, would have been more successful.
    But the purpose is to get another term for this Karnataka BJP government!

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